Ajimobi signs anti-land grabbing bill into law

Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi (right); Speaker of the House of Assembly, Michael Adeyemo; Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Seun Abimbola; and the Commissioner for Lands, Housing, Survey and Urban Development, Mr. Ajiboye Omodewu, at the signing of anti-land grabbing bill into law, at the executive council chamber, governor’s office, Ibadan. PHOTO: GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

Henceforth, anybody who forcibly grabs other people’s land in Oyo State would be imprisoned for 15 years or pay a fine of N500, 000.

This followed the signing into law, of a Bill on Real Property Protection Law, 2016 by Governor Abiola Ajimobi on Friday in Ibadan.

It was titled: “A law to protect the rights of property owners and prohibits forceful entry, illegal occupation, violent and fraudulent conducts, in relation to real property in the state and for purposes connected therewith.”

The law also stipulated a 10-year jail term or a fine of N500, 000 upon conviction, for illegal entry into any construction site “for the purpose of stopping, disturbing or otherwise” demanding for any fee or levy in respect of construction activities.

Under the law, any professional who facilitates a contractual agreement between a land-owning family and another person would also be liable to imprisonment for three years or a fine of N500, 000, or both.

Part of the law reads: “Any person who is on any property as an encroacher and having with him any firearm, dangerous or offensive weapons, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for five years.

“Any person who offers any property for sale, knowing that he has no lawful title to the property or authority of the owner, or sells a property knowing that he has no lawful title to the property or that the property had been previously sold by him or his privies, is liable upon conviction to a five-year imprisonment.”

Ajimobi promised to ensure its full implementation to give property owners and investors a new lease of life.